State troopers nab 150 drivers on cellphones

More than 150 drivers were ticketed by state police in the first 12 hours of a campaign targeting drivers on their cellphones.

Operation Hang Up, as it’s called by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was put in place Sunday and will be running through Monday.

During that time, state police will be aggressively ticketing individuals, as evidenced by the more than 150 tickets issued Sunday statewide. One state trooper issued eight tickets in an hour while patrolling Kingston, N.Y.

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Distracted driving – utilizing a handheld device while operating a motor vehicle – is a big problem on Long Island.

Outside of New York City, more tickets have been written for the offense in Suffolk County than anywhere else. More than 2,350 tickets have been issued for distracted driving in Suffolk since the beginning of 2012. Nassau finished three spots back of Suffolk in total tickets issued with 1,846.

Slightly more tickets had been issued in Erie and Westchester counties than in Nassau.